Frozen: Crescent On Ice
by Puppet-Master2013
Summary: Synopsis: Hans Westergard, formerly Prince Johannes Andersen of House Westergard, the ruling family of the Southern Isles was exiled and stripped of his titles pertaining to the events of the "Great Thaw". His heart aches for vengeance and anger festers in his heart, he moves East into the arms of those that would help him attain his revenge. The Ottoman Empire.
1. Chapter 1

Synopsis: Hans Westergard, formerly Prince Johannes Andersen of House Westergard, ruling monarch of the Southern Isles was exiled and stripped of his titles pertaining to the events of the "Great Thaw". His heart ached for vengeance and anger festers in his heart, he moves East into the arms of those that would help him attain his revenge. The Ottoman Empire.

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**_January 22__nd__, 1843_**

"_Prince Johannes Andersen Westergard, thirteenth child of the Late King Ulrik Westergard. You stand here today," boomed the harsh voice of Count Baard of Jurtenhein as he read the charges pressed against him. "of crimes committed against an allied Kingdom to the North. The charges are as follows." _

_Hans grit his teeth as each of his charge read out reminded him of how close he was. So close to finally getting a throne. Of being King. Of being wanted. Of being…loved. Now his brothers hate him even more, the people were out for his blood as trade between his nation and Arrendalle had suffered. Honest businessmen could no longer make income for the time being with Arrendalle._

"_Attempted Regicide," The crowd roared their disapproval._

"_Attempting to supplant the Royal Family of Arrendalle,"_

"_Supporting and arming various rebel factions against the Crown of Arrendalle." Wait…what? Hans' eyes widened, no, that's not what he did! That's not-_

"_Defiling the second princess of Arrendalle, Princess Annabelle Agdarsdotter,"_

_LIES!_

"_Murder," _

_Now the jury were screaming for him to be strung up. "No! No! I did not murder anybody, I did not commit rape!" His words were drowned out by the snarls and shrieking of the angry citizens. Count Baard, the acting Justice of the Court simply ignored him and raised his voice._

"_And finally High Treason, for which the punishments of such crimes is regrettably death. Prince Hans, have you any words of defence against these charges laid out against you?" A taunting smirk pasted on the Count. Hans should have known, Baard was a supporter of his eldest brother, Crown Prince Harald, there was no escape. _

_His eyes searched frantically for his brothers, and there they were. Standing at the top of the balcony, all 12 of them, solemn expressions and ornate suits and…her. Helena, the peasant woman whom he truly loves, everything that he did, he did for her, for the life that they could finally build together without scrutiny of the people._

_She could only stare weakly into his eyes, her mesmerizing blue simmered in sadness and disappointment before she looked away. Harald, there he was, the bastard who ruined his life from the moment he could walk._

"_Harald! Harald you dishonourable, lying bastard!" cried Hans, immediately silencing the mob within the courthouse. Harald's arms were folded and his eyebrows were raised, displaying his amusement at dear brother Johannes' outburst. "Tell them! Tell them the truth you cad! My only crime was only trying to save Arrendalle from becoming a wasteland of ice!"_

_Harald chuckled, his voice low and condescending, "Why, I am simply retelling what you told me, brother," that last word came out like he had spat out scum. "Did you not leave Princess Anna, second child to the late King Agdar in the room with no fire so she may die of the cold, did you not have your sword above the head of Arrendalle's Queen no less to behead her?"_

_All eyes seemed to be on Hans, the crowd watching the situation unfolding intently. At least they've gone silent._

"_I…well, yes but-" _

"_Then the charges are true, what more do you want?"_

"_But, rape? Supporting various rebel groups? Murder, those are NOT my crimes!" Harald narrowed his eyes, "Details that you missed out, brother, those charges came from Queen Elsa Agdarsdotter herself, take it up with her, now, Count. Pass on the sentence."_

_The crowd erupted again, once more drowning Prince Han's pleas and cursing. _

"_I hereby sentence you to death by hanging on the neck until dead. May God have mercy upon your soul. This sentence is to be carried out immediately,"_

_Rough hands gripped Hans from both sides and they literally dragged a screaming, thrashing Hans into the execution chamber, its doors closing to the citizens and the guards outside prevented anyone else from entering. Hans could only think of the times he spent with his mother, those were happy times and of Helena, his lover whom he met while exploring the wilderness in his teens, those were even happier times. _

_They roughly pulled the sack over his head and jammed the lever down, however as he dropped to what would seem to be a short drop and a sudden stop, he fell into a room. _

_A set of hands pulled the sack off and he stared into the dark brown eyes of Harald, an insufferable grin stretched from ear to ear, "Hello again, baby Hans,"_

"_You!" he attempted to claw the crown prince's eyes out, anything, even a scratch to the nose would do. "Calm yourself, baby Hans, you should be thanking me."_

"_Thanking you? You ended my life! Everything is over!" wailed the 13__th__ prince in despair. "Not yet, the citizens think you're dead and cold and off to meet the Lord. I have a different punishment in mind."_

"_You punished me enough, 22 years of humiliation, is that not enough for you?" muttered Hans bitterly._

"_Correction, 23 years, 3 months. Now, I hereby exile you, and strip your title as prince, you are never to set foot in this land for the rest of your miserable life." Before Hans could protest Harald shoved a small purse filled with gold coins into his hand. "Here's a sack of gold, should last you a month if you're thrifty. A horse is waiting for you by the stables, I've paid off the stable boy and the palace guards. Now go on, I want you out of my Kingdom by sundown."_

_Hans stared at the pouch in his hand, then back at his eldest brother. "I don't understand, you condemn me yet you're helping me. Why?"_

"_At the end of the day, you're still my brother and I would not see you, anyone of us face his end by the gallows. Mother made me promise her to look after all of us. Consider my oath to her fulfilled and this the start of a new life for you. Get a job, get married or have your revenge against those two loathsome wenches in the North." _

_Elsa and Anna. The thoughts of those two reignited a burning sensation in his heart, his breathing came slowly and ragged, his expression darkened. He squeezed the purse given to him so hard the coins inside threatened to burst free._

"_Hans!" A much more feminine voice lit up the room. "Helena!" A petite frame embraced him as tightly as he could. "I was just leaving," muttered the Crown Prince as he swept his cape and left._

"_You knew about all this?" Hans placed a gentle peck on her cheek and wiped a strand of blonde hair away from her forehead. "Of course, Mikhail thought of a way to save you and the others agreed."_

"_They did? I thought they hated me,"_

"_No, well, they do but they couldn't let you die…you do share the same blood as them so they came up with this idea to punish you."_

_A slap came without warning. "Helena! Christ, ow!" Another one._

"_That hurt, woman what is wrong with you?"_

"_It was supposed to hurt! How could you be so selfish, you…left Princess Anna to die and, and you nearly killed the Queen!" _

"_I did it for us! Harald, the Council, my brothers, this damn kingdom, would never let us wed. A royal and a commoner marrying is inconceivable so if I became King, I could make my own rules and we could be –"_

"_Johannes stop it. If killing others just so we could have the life we want is not something I would ever wish to be a part of."_

"_I know, my beautiful Helena, I know. I'm sorry I got us into an even further rift."_

"_Was it true Hans? Did you really force yourself upon Princess Anna as well?"_

"_Lord, no! I would never rip the innocence of a woman away, it was all false. You're my only one Helena, I love you so much."_

_The two embraced for what seemed like an eternity before Mikhail burst in, brother number 7 and the only one who genuinely cares for Johannes. _

"_Come with me, Hans, hurry!"_

_Hans looks to Mikhail, and then Helena, "Come with me, we could roam the world together, have the life we've always wanted outside these walls."_

"_I cannot, I can't leave my papa, my brothers and sisters. I'm sorry,"_

"_Wait for me, then. Please for God's sakes will you wait for my return?"_

"_I don't know Hans I-," They shared a passionate kiss before he left her, once again._

"_It seems we are unfortunate in this life then, perhaps in another life?" Smiled Hans sadly, his hands clasped around the slender forearms of his beloved._

"_In another life," She agreed and as she watched her prince leave her, never to return again, a single tear fell forth._

_As Hans climbed aboard his old horse, Sitron Mikhail gave him a gentle pat on the back, "Take care, brother."_

"_You too Mikhail, and thank you for everything, I heard from Helena this was your idea."_

"_Don't thank me, its my job to pull your arse out of the fire everytime you create one. But, Hans, did you really mean it? To kill Elsa and Anna just so you could be King?"_

"…_Yes."_

"_Why?"_

_There was silence as he held on to the reigns of Sitron who was rearing to go. "Because I would finally have a place on my own, I would have a Kingdom to love and rule, I would have Helena by my side and we would be happy. I just wanted to feel…wanted."_

_Mikhail gripped his hand, "I understand, what you did was stupid," Hans chuckled, "and reckless and selfish but I understand. Be on your way now, and know that my love and Helena's would always be with you."_

_Hans nodded and left. As he rode out of the Kingdom's borders he fought back tears. Tears for leaving Helena once more, tears for never seeing his brother again, and tears that he could have avoided all this had he been more ruthless in his scheming to rule Arrendalle. He felt it again, the drums of war beating within his very being as they lusted for the blood of the two sisters and he knew how to slake it._

_In the far East, stretching forth from the Mediterranean and spilling into Eastern Europe there lay an Empire so large and so powerful the once mighty Roman Empire itself paled in comparison. The terrifying sign of the Crescent lay dominant within those lands, the heretical Saracen religion spread by their even more terrifying fanatical soldiers. They were known throughout the world as the Ottoman Empire and their help would secure the demise of Arrendalle._

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**_And there you have it folks! Something that I have been wanting to do for some time. Hans will not be a pathetic, helpless prince and the story will be AU for history, namely one I won't have the Ottoman Janissary Corps completely abolished. You'll see and I will be adding OCs in later chapters. Rate and Review, thanks!_**


	2. Chapter 2

We'll see what has become of Prince Hans in this chapter, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the first 2 reviewers, you guys have inspired me to continue writing and I got out another chapter, albeit a shorter one. I'll try to make it a little longer in the next one. Salam Alaykum :D

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_**March 1**__**st**__**, 1844**_

_More than a year had passed since Prince Johannes Andersen Westergard had been banished from his homeland. Gone were the flashy, ornate, iron pressed dress uniforms and in his stead he wore a fine quality cloak which came with a hood sewn on, trousers and hiking boots giving the exiled man the look appearance of a traveller._

_Hans had long come to terms his life had changed. _

_Drastically._

_He could never see his favourite brother Mikhail or even Helena. No longer could he practise his marksmanship with a musket in the palace courtyard, fencing in the palace armoury or could he ever go off exploring the Echoing Woods; a favourite pastime during his youth for it bore many undergrowth and bushes to hide from the rest of the Westergard brood. There would be no more sailing to the Misty Islands during the autumn season, in fact every single activity he once relished was forever put on hiatus._

_Every night he lay on the grassy fields of foreign lands, shaking in fury as he thought of his exchange with Harald._

"_Tell them! Tell them the truth you cad! My only crime was only trying to save Arrendalle from becoming a wasteland of ice!"_

_Harald chuckled, his voice low and condescending, "Why, I am simply retelling what you told me, brother," that last word came out like he had spat out scum. "Did you not leave Princess Anna, second child to the late King Agdar in the room with no fire so she may die of the cold, did you not have your sword above the head of Arrendalle's Queen no less to behead her?"_

_And it all ended with, "Details that you missed out, brother, those charges came from Queen Elsa Agdarsdotter herself,"_

"_those charges came from Queen Elsa Agdarsdotter herself,"_

_those charges came from Queen Elsa Agdarsdotter herself,"_

"_Queen Elsa Agdarsdotter,"_

_Hans would sit up with a snarl escaping his throat and scream in rage, terrifying his horse, Sitron in the process who was asleep. He screamed till' his throat would be sore. This continued for the first three days of exile until he lost almost all ability to converse and when he recovered he took up the habit of biting his thumb as hard as he could each time his mind wandered to the failed attempt in stealing Arrendalle. _

_But he had a plan. The Ottoman Empire, bane of everything related with Christendom would be of great help. He had a good relationship with the previous Sultan's youngest child and through their friendship he was confident he could convince Sultan AbdulMecid the First to invade Arrendalle, one of the largest exporter of ice and frostfir timbre in all of Europe and Central Asia, and with such a fine land under his grip, the Empire would be richer, its political influence wider, the citizens prosperous and more would turn towards Islam. _

_Also, by Christian standards, Elsa was a witch who needed to be vanquished and he was positive the Muslims would do the same considering if the rumors were true, they both share the same religion._

_Everyone would be happy, Arrendalle falls to the hands of muslims whom in turn would benefit from the resources and riches available for trade with Europe, the sisters would be executed or crucified for witchcraft and then could finally Hans settle down quietly and die in peace._

_Not many knew about Sultan Mahmud II's youngest child's existence but Hans did, after all Hans saved his life years ago when their armies clashed and ended in the Ottomans temporarily routed from the Isles before a counter-attack caused the Isles to lose one of its prized islands and the surrounding fisheries it held. The prince went by a second identity of Captain Iskendir Deniroglu who led his own cavalry contingent of 700 riders. In reality his name was Mehmet Bedir AbdulMelik, a peculiar man who would give up his heritage just so he could spend more time in the army furthering the goals of the Empire._

_Even more peculiar was that Prince Mehmet had his own division of Janissary Corps considering it was dissolved after the Auspicious Event in 1826. _

_Hans had found the young prince sandwiched between his own dead horse, felled by a musket round and a decomposing body of what was once a Southern Isles grenadier amidst the battlefield. He saved the helpless cavalryman, and the latter had considered himself indebted to the former ever since. The two formed a quick bond and exchanged secret letters of friendship with the last message from Prince Mehmet wishing him good luck for Princess Elsa's coronation and that "Allah keep you safe from harm," whatever that meant. And who was Allah? He must be very important in the religion of those who followed the mark of the crescent._

_Currently Hans was in Egypt after having bargained a third of his remaining coins for safe passage to Konstantiniyye. He barely had enough coins left for food and water. Once in Konstantiniyye, he would seek out the Prince first. And then, they would request an audience with Sultan AbdulMecid and relay his proposition. From what he heard from the Turkish traders encountered on the way to Egypt, the new Sultan was a truly benevolent man yet he seemed to be easily persuaded and influenced by others and Hans intended he remain that way. _

_Having written to Prince Mehmet, prior to his arrival in the Middle East, the Prince Mehmet or "Bedir" as he preferred Hans to call him, replied in the most peculiar of ways from spies to highly trained career pigeons, how those birds could ever pick Hans apart from the other travellers, Hans would never know. _

_Prince Mehmet wrote in Turkish by using the Arabic alphabet system and Hans had a very bad grasp in it. But he pieced together a simple sentence from all the bits and pieces the spies and birds had handed, and in some cases, dropped on him._

_Konstantiniyye. Docks. The 6__th__ Day. The 3__rd__ week. The 3__rd__ Month._

"_The docks of Konstantiniyye, on Saturday, third week of March. That should be…20 days from now," muttered Hans as he lay on the creaking hammock of the ship he boarded. _

"_So be it then…" Whispered Hans before drifting off inside from within the comfort of the seaborne vessel as the waves raged all around him._

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**_As usual, rate and review. Constructive criticism is very much appreciated :_**


	3. Chapter 3

Hans arrives in Konstantiniyye! Here we explore what he did 3 days prior in the City. I've renamed the City of Istanbul to Konstantiniyye back in chapter 2, my thanks to the reviewer who pointed it out. To the reviewer who is looking forward to Hans and Elsa as a pairing, I apologize but it will not be so, I myself am a big fan of Helsa but I don't think this story would fit with the idea of Helsa. He already has his own true love in the story.

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_**March 6**__**th**__**, 1844**_

_The city of Konstantinyye was a sight to behold. Once the pinnacle of the now defunct Orthodox Byzantine Empire, its mighty walls withstood the Muhammedan horde for centuries before falling to Sultan Mehmet II in circa 1453. _

_Life under the Ottomans continued as per usual and the city flourished with its citizens able to practise their respective faiths openly. Once in a while there would be clashes between those of different faiths but it would simmer down after a few days. The Ottomans fell in love with Constantinople's infrastructure and building designs so much, they improved it and replicated its designs throughout various places of its empire. _

_Hans had arrived three days prior on a busy Wednesday morning and had plenty of time to explore the city. He was astounded by their friendliness to receive foreigners. Some passing strangers would smile and say to him, "Selam Alaykum," and promptly moved on, leaving Hans dumbfounded, unsure of how to respond. After a few times someone greeted him, Hans simply took it upon himself to smile and nod._

_Breakfast was good, their cuisines heavily relied upon seafood, Hans loved seafood and there were local Turkish delicacies to go with, especially their delightful mint tea. _

_People spoke in Greek, Turkish and occasionally he would catch a smattering of broken Latin whilst passing through the markets. Hans himself was fluent in Latin and Greek and a little bit of English and Arabic. The strong smell of musk perfumes wafted in their air as traders competed for sales and customers vied for discounts._

_He visited what the people called the Sublime Porte. It was called another name in Turkish. It was used by the Ottomans to receive delegates of distant lands, possibly Europeans. It was erected during the reign of the late Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in respect to the French. _

_He had gotten himself a room for three nights at an affordable rate with meals provided at an inn run by a Jewish family. It was obvious they were Jewish from the dinner plate sized Star Of David plaque hung above the main door of the inn. _

_The innkeeper's daughter was Zeyra, who was very helpful in helping the exiled prince settle down. She would turn 21 on the last day of October. She had the bluest of eyes, radiating with such life and goodness inside them, her hair was strawberry blonde and ran down in curls. She's got her mother's hair and her father's friendly eyes. Always smiling at Hans even though he spoke not a word of Turkish and she spoke not a word of Norwegian. They communicated through the Modern Greek language._

_Yes, she was beautiful but his heart belonged to Helena. Zeyra was a distraction, a beautiful distraction he grudgingly added in silence._

_A year sleeping in the fields and abandoned buildings and finally settling down in a comfortable bed would need some time getting used to once again, after all his life was essentially over. He would forever be stateless, his portraits, the books the clothes he wore all would be burned. Every trace of him would be erased from the Southern Isles. But he cares not, right now, a throne does not appeal to him now as he did before. Right now, revenge was all that he could think of._

_The sound of the Adhan, the Muslim call to prayer was something Hans had never heard of until when he first entered Konstantinyye. He didn't get the chance to listen to it in Egypt as he arrived in Cairo late at night and the ship he boarded sailed forth before sunrise._

_It started somewhere from the hillside before several more voices echoed around him._

_In a sense, it was beautiful, the melody and cry reached deep into his soul and nearly brought tears of remorse into him, Hans hated it. Hated that a mere echoing voice could bring out feelings Hans had confidently locked away many, many years ago. _

_Unlike Western European countries where the populace were becoming secular, the Ottomans kept up with religion whilst modernizing alongside the rest of the world. _

_He watched in awe as the call was made and people simply just…stopped. They stopped what they were doing and bowed their heads in respect. Hans didn't want to feel out of place so he did so in respect as a foreigner in an even stranger land. Once the call to prayer was made, people began leaving the markets in droves, possibly to their muhammedan church. Soon only Hans was left, a lone soul in an empty market. _

_March the 6__th__, today he finally meets Prince Mehmet face to face once more at the docks of Konstantiniyye no less. _

_He gave the innkeeper and his family warm smiles and thanked them in fluent Greek for the hospitality and promptly left. In order to blend in, Hans had swapped his choice of clothing to light beige robes, a red tunic, a red fez and kept his boots. His European features gave him the appearance of a muslim from the Balkans travelling the capital of the Ottoman Empire._

"_The fashion suits you, Johannes," The voice was in poor __Nyorsk__. It came from the shadows. Hans paused his step and turned with a grin._

_Prince Mehmet stepped out of the corners of an alleyway. He too was dressed in commoner's clothing, a dagger was securely fit to his belt and a pistol to his side. He returned Hans' grin with his own and embraced the younger man. _

"_Johannes,"_

"_Mehmet,"_

"_Bedir, you can call me Bedir, my friend."_

"_Of course," _

"_How have you been? I heard about what happened in Arrendalle."_

"…"

"_Are you sure about this? Are the two monarchs of Arrendalle really a threat to my Empire?"_

"_Very. The eldest sister could manipulate snow and ice, I have seen her conjuring snow monsters at whim."_

"_And the younger of the two?"_

"_Just someone who meddled in my plans, I want her dead too,"_

"_So this isn't about the safety of my people then, its about your goals to bring down two monarchs who ruined your life! I should have known that an infidel would have no interest in my Empire and its people at all…"_

"_Bedir, those two_ _ruined any chance I had at having a happy life with the woman I love, now I'm an outcast to my nation and- and-. Look, Bedir, just tell me if you will help me, yes or no?"_

"_Of course, I am in your debt and you have my support but it doesn't mean I agree with what you want to do. Johannes, you Christians have a saying, when a man goes looking for revenge, he digs two grave-"_

"_One for the big bitch, and one for the little bitch?"_

_Both erupted in laughter, startling some passers-by. "No, but its close enough. Come, I hope you brought a horse, it will be a 2 hour journey to the Palace."_

_Hans brought out Sitron and rode a little ways behind the Prince, letting him lead the way. Hans gripped the reigns of Sitron as hard as he could, bristling with anticipation. _

'_Get in, convince the Sultan for an expedition fleet, destroy Arrendalle. Easy,' thought Hans with a dark expression._

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_**As per usual, Rate and Review! Constructive criticism is much appreaciated, Thanks! :D**_


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